By Anna Italia
Follow me in Twitter @ItalianSerieA 

AC Milan - Arsenal 
   Wednesday 15 February 2012, San Siro Stadium, Milan, Italy, Champions League Round of 16

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AC Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri can smile again recovering injured players.  It's a tough test for Milan, though with the added boost of having defeated Udinese in Serie A Week 23.  Now, it's time for the UEFA Champions League and Allegri knows that there are no time for errors against Arsenal.  The mission is to win in San Siro and not concede goals.  Best recipe for Milan is claim to their DNA's winning mentality when it comes to the big show in European football. 

 Here are the declarations from AC Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri during the press conference on Tuesday 14 February at the Centro Sportivo Milanello ahed of the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 First Leg on Wednesday 15 February in San Siro Stadium.




AC Milan coach Massmiliano Allegri on the formation saying, "I have to evaluate the injured players, some have done a few workouts with the team, we have to check if they have 90 minutes in them. Tomorrow will be a game where we know the strength of Arsenal, who play good football based on team-work and individuals that enhance the team. We'll be on our guard in defence, it is not a one-off match, but over 180 minutes.

On Players Returning from injury...  Kevin Prince Boateng, Alexandre Pato, Christian Abbiati  and Alessandro Nesta:

 Boateng? He was out for four weeks, it will be difficult for him to start but I could change my mind and start him. We'll see. The same goes for Pato. But having them available as well as Abbiati and Nesta which is a good thing. The month of February was not a great start for us, fortunately we won on Saturday. Yesterday's visit from Barbara Berlusconi has confirmed the importance of this stage of the season, as we go towards the end of the season the games are increasingly important.



On AC Milan forward Stephan El Shaarawy

 El Shaarawy? He's doing very well, he is developing, he is a boy of 19 years and should be left to develop, he is a great finisher with great quality. He will become a regular in attack.

On the match with Arsenal

“Winning in Udine was important because despite Juventus having two games in hand, we moved back to the top of Serie A. It was also important because it showed we weren’t content to settle for a draw, we continued looking to get the victory. Also we beat one of the big teams in the league. The last sixteen in the Champions League? They are also fundamental, especially to show we have improved from last year. Tomorrow we have to play knowing that it is a massive game but also a 180 minute test. Technically we need to play well and we have to realise that we can’t make the same mistakes as last year. Against Tottenham we made just one error and tomorrow we need to be fully focused and patient, otherwise we will complicate matters. In the Italian cup we let in two goals from the goalkeeper launching the ball forwards, tomorrow it will be a huge advantage for us if we don’t let them score.

On AC Milan forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic

 Ibra? Knowing him, he never gives up, not even during training matches and what he said yesterday doesn’t mean he doesn’t want this trophy. He is in good shape, psychologically and physically and he’ll do well tomorrow. We won’t start slow in the game, there will be a high intensity throughout and we mustn’t get hit on the counter attack, which is their strength.

On Premier League Teams

Inferiority complex against English teams? No, Arsenal are playing well in recent weeks and are improving. Offensively they are very dangerous, but last year we deserved to beat Tottenham in the second leg and go through so I have a lot of faith in our future. Van Persie and Henry are great players but the collective unit is even more dangerous. Henry is a legend there and I’m sure he would like to leave in his second spell on a high. The team have a lot of pace, and exploit and space you concede them. The Dutch players we have are all doing really well, Seedorf has won everything with us, Emanuelson is continually improving and Van Bommel was very important when we won last year’s scudetto. It’s premature to talk about Seedorf and Van Bommel’s futures, we need to focus on what we do on the pitch to achieve our goals. Van Basten? I choose the players, clubs choose the coaches…”





Here are the 21 official called up players from AC MILAN by coach Massimiliano Allegri for the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 match, AC Milan v Arsenal on Wednesday 15 February 2014 in San Siro Stadium at 20:45.

Good news for Milan recovering from injury first goalkeeper Christian Abbiati, forward Alexandre Pato and midfielder Kevin Prince Boateng.

Goalkeepers:  Christian Abbiati, Marco Amelia,

Defenders:  Ignazio Abate, Luca Antonini, Daniele Bonera, Mesbah, Philippe Mexes, Alessandro Nesta, Thiago Silva, Gianluca Zambrotta,

Midfielders:  Massimo Ambrosini, Kevin Prince Boateng, Urby Emanuelson, Antonio Nocerino, Clarence Seedorf,  Mark Van Bommel,

Forwards:   El Shaarawy, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Maxi Lopez, Alexandre  Pato, Robinho.


UEFA Champions League Round of 16
First Leg
 
AC Milan - Arsenal
Wednesday 15 February 2012
San Siro Stadium
Milan, Italy
20:45

Referee: Viktor Kassai
Assistants:  Gabor Eros and Gyorgy Ring, Istvan Vad and Mihaly Fabian. Fourth official is  Tamas Bognar.





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